Star-crossedYou hold on to this cloud I hold on to thatShouting the shapes over each other’s voicesEverything turns to water darlingTired? Sleep …

The riddle of the moon has been bustedTell me whyInsatiable shift

Why we take to terraces gardensWherever we can fly silhouettesTurning our heads slightly in loveTry on the moonring It never fits

Your face the shadow of a witch

Sleep on the flatbed of starsSleep on historySleep in the shape of Pegasus Orion Aquila CygnusHeaving netSomeone always playing at Vega

About the poet

Mani Rao (b. 1965, India) is the author of eight poetry books and two books in translation-- of the Bhagavad Gita as a modern poem, and Kalidasa for the 21st Century Reader. Her poems and essays are in numerous journals and anthologies including W.W.Norton’s Language for a New Century and the Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets. Mani worked for 20 years in advertising and television fields in India, Hong Kong and New Zealand. She has an MFA in Creative Writing, and is presently a PhD student at Duke University for a dissertation on mantras.

World’s first major ecopoetry award. With a first prize of £5,000 for the best single poem embracing ecological themes, the award ranks amongst the highest of any English language single poem competition. Second prize is £2,000 and third prize £1,000.